

This is the official macOS backup software and it is built into your Mac’s Operating System. If you have a new Mac, you may have seen something called “Time Machine” when setting up your device for the first time. You can back up a few documents, files, folders, or your whole computer. So, even if you trust your Mac to withstand anything life throws at it, you should still have a data backup strategy. If you work to tight deadlines, starting your work from scratch because you’ve accidentally deleted a file may not be an option. Power surges, hardware failure, and device theft are just some of the issues that can result in an instant and irreversible loss of data. If the part of your Mac’s T2 chip where your encryption keys are stored becomes damaged, you may need to use backup data to restore the content of your drive. Apple is continually developing its security capabilities, regularly releasing software updates and new hardware such as the T2 security chip for Mac.Īlthough the T2 chip provides encrypted storage and other security features, it comes with a catch. Like all Apple devices, Macs are known and loved for the high standard of security they offer users. In other words, it will use your Dropbox account as augmented cloud storage so that it’s like you have more space on your computer.Why you should back up your Mac to the cloud Opening the file will trigger Dropbox to download the full file to your computer and then open it. If you are on a higher tier plan from Dropbox you can instead enable “ Smart Sync” which creates your entire Dropbox structure on your computer, but if you begin to run out of local storage files that have not been accessed in a while will get replaced with dummy files. If you need to access any files in those folders from the MacBook, go to in your Web browser instead, or adjust your Sync preferences to bring in the needed folder. Deselect the folders you want to prevent from syncing to the MacBook and click Update. In the Preferences window, click Sync and then click the Choose Folders to Sync button.

On the MacBook, click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar, click your avatar in the upper-right corner, and choose Preferences.

How do you prevent your large Dropbox account from overwhelming the laptop Mac’s available storage? The answer is Dropbox’s Selective Sync feature. If you’re like many of my clients who use Dropbox intensively, you have a desktop Mac with a large drive and a MacBook with much less drive space.
